THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• This will be the 12th meeting between UIC and Evansville on the hardwood, with the Flames maintaining a 9-2 edge in the all-time series with the Purple Aces, including a 5-0 record at home.

• Eight of the 11 series games between UIC and Evansville have been decided by single digits, including six of the past eight.

• Before their current shared membership in the Missouri Valley Conference, UIC and Evansville played three separate home-and-home series (2001-02, 2003-04 and 2010-11). The Flames won five of those six non-conference contests.

• The schools will be meeting for the second time this season. Back on Jan. 22 in Evansville, UIC posted a 78-67 victory over the Purple Aces.

MORE ON EVANSVILLE

• Since its loss to UIC last month, Evansville has won five of its last eight games, including the last two. The Purple Aces last took the floor on Wednesday, posting a 79-74 road win at Indiana State.

• Junior guard Tayshawn Comer leads Evansville in scoring (15.9 ppg.), just ahead of freshman forward Gabriel Pozzato (15.4 ppg.), with both players among the top seven scorers in the Valley heading into this weekend — Comer is also fifth in the conference in assists (4.1 apg.). In addition, senior guard Tanner Cuff is fourth in the MVC in rebounding (6.6 rpg.).

• Now in his third season as head coach at Evansville, David Ragland has a 33-62 (.347) record with the Purple Aces, including a 1-4 record against UIC.

GAME #27 RECAP - DRAKE

• Graduate student guard Tyem Freeman scored a team-high 15 points, knocking down 4-of-5 three-pointers, and shared the team lead with six rebounds, but UIC was unable to dig itself out of an early hole, falling at MVC leader Drake, 74-57 on Wednesday night.

• For the second consecutive game, redshirt senior forward Modestas Kancleris scored a season-high 13 points while matching Freeman's six-rebound night. Sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II also scored in double figures, finishing with 12 points.

NOTING THE DRAKE GAME

• In two games against Drake this year, Freeman is 9-of-12 from three-point range and scored 15 points both times.

• Kancleris extended his streak of double-digit scoring games to a season-best three in a row while matching his season scoring high set twice before (Jan. 18 at Valparaiso; Feb. 16 vs. Missouri State).

• UIC is 3-3 this season against teams ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll (Drake came into the game ranked No. 4 in that poll).

• Drake made 13 of its first 17 shots (5-of-6 from three-point range), before the Flames' defense got on track and held the Bulldogs to a .351 shooting percentage (13-of-37) and 1-of-11 (.091) from beyond the arc during the final 28-plus minutes of action.

BALANCE IS KEY

• UIC has five players posting double-figure scoring averages this season — Javon Jackson (12.5 ppg.), Ahmad Henderson II (11.4), Tyem Freeman (10.5), Jordan Mason (10.3) and Saša Ciani (10.0).

• No other school in the MVC has five double-figure scorers entering this weekend's action in the conference.

• The Flames have seen eight different players lead the team in scoring at least once this season.

• UIC has had at least four double-digit scorers in 15 games this season. The Flames had a season-high six in their Dec. 20 road win at Seattle U., the  most for UIC in a single game since March 2018.

HEART STOPPERS

• Following the advice of CBS college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Flames fans have been prepared to "grab their nitroglycerin pills" a lot this season.

• Nearly half (13) of UIC's 27 games this season have been decided by single digits, including 10 of 17 MVC games.

• The Flames are 7-6 in games decided by single digits, with a 5-5 mark in MVC play.

• No less than 16 of UIC's last 19 games have been decided by 12 points or fewer (the exceptions all coming on the road - 80-63 win at Missouri State on Jan. 7; 93-70 win at Bradley on Jan. 29; 74-57 loss at Drake on Feb. 19).

• Five of UIC's last eight losses have been by five points or fewer, and in each case, the Flames had a possession to tie or retake the lead inside the final 2:00.

• UIC is 3-0 in overtime games this year, the second-most OT wins in a season in program history (five in 2005-06).

• The Flames have won their last four overtime games, dating back to last year's MVC Tournament (84-82 double-overtime win over Southern Illinois in the first round), with the 2005-06 season the last time UIC won four or more consecutive OT contests.

POTENT NOTABLES

• Entering Saturday's game, UIC has an average opponent NET ranking of 104, which is second-highest in the Valley.

• UIC is 7-5 on the road this year, third-most in the Valley, including a 5-4 road mark in MVC play (fourth in the conference).

• The Flames are 2-0 against schools earning votes in the Associated Press poll with victories over Drake on Jan. 1 and at Bradley on Jan. 29.

• UIC is 3-3 this season against teams ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll (wins over No. 13 Yale on Nov. 18, No. 1 Drake on Jan. 1 and at No. 4 Bradley on Jan. 29).

• The Flames are 4-0 against current Quad 2 opponents this season, winning on Nov. 13 vs. Yale, Dec. 29 at Illinois State, Jan. 1 vs. Drake and Jan. 29 at Bradley.

• UIC nearly claimed a Quad 1 win at Northwestern on Nov. 12 (trailed 74-70 with 1:20 left; lost 83-74).

• With its Nov. 22 win over La Salle at the Boardwalk Battle, UIC collected its third victory over an Atlantic 10 Conference opponent in the past two seasons, following up last year's victories over Loyola and George Washington.

• UIC has knocked down at least 10 three-pointers in 11 games this year, including a season-high 14 at Bradley on Jan. 29.

• The Flames have scored at least 80 points 12 times this season and topped the 90-point mark on six occasions.

• This season marked the first time in the 78-year history of the UIC men's basketball program that it had four 90-point outings in its first six games.

• UIC has shot 45 percent or better in 17 games this year, and over 50 percent 10 times (season-high 60.0 percent on Nov. 16 against Saint Mary's-Minn.).

NEW FACES, NEW PLACES

• There are a lot of new faces in Sparky's camp this season, as UIC welcomes 11 newcomers to its roster, including eight transfers (all from Division I programs).

• Three of those arrivals bring with them playing experience in the NCAA Tournament from their prior stops — Javon Jackson (Utah State), Modestas Kancleris (Creighton) and Joshua Reaves (Mount St. Mary's).

• Among the new arrivals to Chicago's College Team are junior guard Jordan Mason (9.4 ppg. in two years at Texas State), graduate guard Joshua Reaves (7.5 ppg. and a .368 3FG% in four years at Mount St. Mary's), junior guard Javon Jackson (10.5 ppg. in two years at Southern Nazarene and Utah State) and sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II (11.2 ppg. in one year at Niagara).

• UIC's roster has a distinct international flair with four European student-athletes — senior forward Filip Škobalj (Belgrade, Serbia), Kancleris (Kaunas, Lithuania), sophomore forward Saša Ciani (Nova Gorica, Slovenia) and freshman Iker Garmendia (Barcelona, Spain).

• The last time UIC had four international players on its roster was the 2020-21 season — Škobalj (Serbia), Jamie Ahale (Australia), Marcus Larsson (Norway) and Jalen Warren (Canada).

UP NEXT: NORTHERN IOWA

• The Flames make their second trip to the state of Iowa in as many weeks when they visit UNI Wednesday for a 6 p.m. (CT) matchup at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls. The game will air live on the MVC TV Network, which can be seen on Gray Media outlets across the Valley footprint, including The U Too (Channel 28.2) in Chicago. Due to scheduling conflicts, the Flames Network will not have a live radio broadcast of the UNI game.

• UNI (19-9, 13-4 MVC) is a game back of league leader Drake heading into Sunday's matinee against the Bulldogs in Cedar Falls. Since visiting UIC in early December, the Panthers have won 16 of their last 21 games coming into this weekend's contest.

• The Flames are 12-14 all-time against UNI after the Panthers earned an 83-56 victory in both schools' conference opener back on Dec. 4 in Chicago.

THE HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN

• Tickets for all UIC basketball home games may be purchased online through Ticketmaster or UICFlames.com/Tickets, by contacting the UIC Athletics Ticket Office (312-413-UIC1; athleticsticketing@uic.edu) or visiting the Credit Union 1 Arena box office on game night.

• Fans can also purchase passes for the US Solar Courtside Club at Credit Union 1 Arena through the UIC Athletics Ticket Office or the arena box office.